In laser enrichment of uranium according, for example, to the technique of U.S. Pat. No. 3,772,519, or U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 328,954, filed Feb. 2, 1973, a beam of laser radiation is applied throughout an elongate chamber to produce isotopically selective ionization of a flowing uranium vapor. The ions thus created have a substantially greater concentration of a desired isotope than occurs in the vapor generally.
These ions which represent an enrichment in the desired uranium isotope are subsequently accelerated onto separate collection plates by crossed-field magnetohydrodynamic forces. This crossed-field results from the simultaneous application of magnetic and electric fields.